Concience of the Snake
by Hamm On Wry
Summary: In a world where Voldemort has won, Harry and Luna are the last resistance. As a last ditch effort, Luna wanting to save her mother, Harry wanting to save the world, they attempt to go back to where it all went wrong for them. Something goes wrong...
1. Chapter 1

**Conscience of the Snake**

_**This is kind of a teaser… I want your reaction whether or not I should continue it…**_

_**A/N: This will be something new for me, I read a lot of time travel fics and Founder's fics, but have never written one**__**The time travel template is common, I hope that what I am going to do with it is not.**_

**Chapter 1**

**Beginning of the End of the Beginning**

_Great Britain _

_Post War, Year 1.5_

Wizarding Britain, for all intents and purposes, no longer existed. Its downfall had began in what would have been Harry Potter's seventh year in Hogwarts. He was not there to see it. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had left school to hunt down Voldemort's Horcruxes. It was a long and arduous task, one in which two of their number did not survive. Ron had been the first to die. Harry and Hermione never realized that he had died until several months later. By then Hermione was also counted among the dead.

The trio had been camping in a magical tent in the Forbidden Forest when there had been an argument and Ron had stormed out in a fit of jealousy. He had promptly apparated home to the Burrow. Harry and Hermione figured that he would somehow find them and once again they would patch up their friendship. This was not to be however, because when Ron arrived back at the Burrow, it was under attack by Voldemort's Death Eaters. He had fought valiantly, proving that he was a true Gryffindor, but it was too late. By the time he arrived, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Arthur and Molly were dead. Fred and George died soon after, killed by the husband and wife team of Rudolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange. Ron died when he threw himself in front of a killing curse meant for his sister, Ginny. That brave act of self-sacrifice extended Ginny's life by roughly 15 seconds; she was decapitated by a Reducto curse cast by Peter Pettigrew. This left Percy as the last living Weasley. When the Ministry fell, Percy took the Dark Mark in order to stay alive. It did him no good in the long run. Although he fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming Minister of Magic, Voldemort himself killed Percy in a fit of pique when Percy raised a mild disagreement with his Master.

It was after the fall of the Ministry that the Goblins of Gringotts decided that it would be in their best interest to support Voldemort. It was a fatal Mistake. Voldemort demanded, and got, a truce that put one Death Eater working in Gringotts for every Goblin employed. On Boxing Day of 1997, the Death Eaters turned their wands on their Goblin co-workers and killed most of them. The survivors sealed off the vaults and ended up starving to death in the tunnels. The dragons feasted on the corpses until they ran out, then they also slowly starved, the larger ones eating the smaller ones until there was no food left. Without access to the vaults, there was no more bank and the wizarding economy crashed.

It was at this point that any light wizards who were able, fled the country. Several hundred were killed attempting to escape, many more were killed by the magical border guards of neighboring countries. The International Confederation had placed an embargo and blockade on Britain in an attempt to contain Voldemort within the borders of Britain. Muggle flights were being monitored by International 'Antiterrorist Forces' with the cooperation of the British Muggle authorities. Anyone with a magical signature would be turned over to the muggle authorities, who made them 'disappear'. Since most wizards had no muggle records, they were considered foreign terrorists, or at the very least, undocumented aliens with no rights. This hard attitude was brought about by the Gringotts goblins in the other nations. The loss of the British branch had hit them hard, and goblins were not known for their forgiving attitude. By the time that Harry Potter returned to Britain under the cover of darkness, there were only two classes of magical people in Britain, those with the Dark Mark, and the dead. The total magical population of Britain was less than 5,000.

Harry Potter had finally tracked down the last Horcrux in Egypt, in a tomb that Tom Riddle had visited over thirty years prior. He had then met up with Luna Lovegood in Paris; she had been on an assignment for the _Quibbler_ when the embargo and blockade had been announced. She had lived in exile from that time, covering the expatriate British magical community in Paris for a small wizarding newspaper. With the assistance of the Gringotts goblins in Paris, Harry had trained for his mission in life, the destruction of Tom Riddle, the Dark Lord Voldemort. Luna had trained with him, along with a goblin named Bloodeye. The plan was to infiltrate the three being team into Britain so that Harry could challenge Voldemort with Luna and Bloodeye providing intelligence and back up. Should Harry defeat Voldemort, Bloodeye would be there to open Gringotts and either assist returning refugees or begin transferring Gringotts assets out of the country.

It was a good plan, however none of the three had ever heard Murphy's Law of Warfare, which states that _'no plan, no matter how well thought out, ever survives first contact with the enemy'_. The trio, with the unacknowledged assistance of the border guards, infiltrated Britain easily, made their way to London, and were able to sneak into Gringotts where Bloodeye gave them access to the vault area. He keyed the three of them into the security wards that the dead workers had erected to protect the vaults. The three spent close to a week going through different vaults looking for anything that might assist them in their quest to destroy Voldemort. They finally found the mother lode of weapons in the vault of a long dead wizard who had belonged to the British SAS. The old Sergeant Major had been a collector of both magical and muggle weaponry. The vault had been filled with weapons from all over the world, 'appropriated' by the old soldier during his thirty years in the Queen's service. There were also ancient weapons from the magical world, including a staff which seemed to call out to Harry. It was when they left the bank under cover of darkness that things went all to hell.

As the three crept out of the bank, heavily burdened with weapons, lights flared in Diagon Alley, bringing daylight conditions to the late night. Harry and Luna's magical signature had been detected by Death Eaters monitoring such things in the Ministry building. Every available Death Eater had apparated to Diagon Alley and waited in ambush. The Dark Lord had also been notified and was expected to make an appearance soon to finish off the only bit of resistance left to his unfettered rule.

When the lights flared, Harry took the staff and set up a shield while Luna transfigured rubble to make a low, thick stone wall between them and the Death Eaters. Bloodeye enlarged an American M60 machine gun, popped the support legs down and began to feed a belt of ammunition into it. Luna, her wall built as well as possible, dropped down to take charge of the M60 while Bloodeye assembled a Russian RPG7 and launched the grenade into the midst of the assembled Death Eaters. It would be the last thing he ever did. Just as the grenade exploded, a green light from the killing curse cast by Lucius Malfoy caught the goblin in the chest. Malfoy fell the next moment, his body riddled by several 7.62 mm rounds from the M60. The rounds splashed through him as if he were made of soft bread, hitting many of his fellow Death Eaters in their path. It was then that Voldemort decided to make his appearance. He strode to the front, waving his followers into inaction. He had waited so long for this day that he was going to enjoy torturing Harry to death. Unfortunately for him, Harry was not willing to play along.

Just as Voldemort began to make a gloating statement about how he was going to crush Harry once and for all, Luna fired a stream of bullets from the M60 just to Voldemort's left. Harry fired off a killing curse to Riddle's right, effectively bracketing him. With his staff, Harry fired a curse right up the middle, catching the Dark Lord in the chest. The curse had the effect of releasing the bindings holding the molecules of Voldemort's body together. The most feared Dark Lord in history melted into a puddle in the middle of the street, no longer immortal with his Horcruxes gone. All of the assembled Death Eaters, as one, screamed as the 'Doomsday Option' implanted in their Dark Marks took their lives in one soul wrenching second. Less than three minutes into the fight, the only magical people left in Britain were Luna and Harry.

Britain had fallen. The last goblin lay on the steps of the bank he had served, the victim of the last Death Eater to cast a spell. The werewolves and vampires had either been killed off by Voldemort or had fled the country before the embargo. The centaurs in Britain had been hunted into extinction for sport by the Death Eaters. Diagon Alley was a ghost town, its colourful shops deserted for months. Hogwarts had been destroyed by the muggle government, a foreign wizard 'painting' the castle with a laser device to guide in bunker-busting 'smart bombs' to prevent it from falling into Voldemort's hands. With the destruction of Hogwarts, the village of Hogsmeade had no purpose, and was abandoned. This pattern of desolation spread throughout wizarding Britain as people either fled or were killed. Voldemort had ended up as the sole ruler of a population equivalent to a small town.

The only usable magical buildings left were Gringotts and the Ministry building. St. Mungo's had closed due to a lack of healers; under Voldemort, healing had been done by roaming healers and medi-witches in private residences or in the Ministry building. There was no more healing to be done, only the cleanup of the bodies. Harry and Luna had no way to contact the outside world, owls were stopped by the blockade and Phoenixes refused to enter the land ruled by the dark. Floo access out of the country was blocked and the wards erected by the International Confederation stopped Portkeys and apparition past the borders.

Harry and Luna spent the next three days transfiguring the bodies they found into dust, letting the Death Eaters blow away in the wind. Following that, they raided Gringotts for muggle money and drifted into Muggle London to discuss what they would do next.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Knowing that the Muggle government would take them into custody should they make themselves known, Harry and Luna began to spend hours in the Ministry library and Gringotts looking for some way to bring life back to their homeland. It was close to a month later, after leaving the library, that they decided to check other places in the building. Some time later, they found themselves in the Department of Mysteries. It was a good thing that they had packed a few meals in their backpacks, the Department was a fascinating place. Harry had picked up a magical pocketknife during one of his forays into Gringotts like the one Sirius had given him, one which would open any lock. He used it on the file cabinets in the Department, opening them up so that Luna could search for something which might help them. It was on the second day in the department that Luna looked at the label on a drawer and gave an excited squeak. She began to scan through the folders, giving each a glance, then tossing them aside. She got to a thick folder, checked the first few parchments, then took the folder over to a table to explore the contents, getting more agitated with each page. With a smile on her face, she called Harry over.

"Harry, if you could go back in time, what would you change?" she asked.

"Back in time? You mean like with a Time Turner?" This line of questioning puzzled him.

"No, a time turner, as you are aware, can only take you back a maximum of eight hours. This folder raises the possibility that you can travel much farther than that, but you would have to go back for a specific purpose. You could interact with one person who could fulfill your quest, but no one else could see you. This parchment," she held up an ancient document. "claims that the writer did exactly that. He went back twenty five years and acted as a guide and mentor to his younger self."

Harry stared at her in shock. If this actually worked, he could go back to his younger self, give the location of the Horcruxes to Dumbledore so they could be destroyed, and train his younger self to be able to kill Voldemort as soon as he stuck his ugly head out of that cauldron in his fourth year. In fact, how effective would that ritual be if all of the bones in that graveyard were made of transfigured flobberworms? He could get Sirius out of prison early, prove that Pettigrew was the traitor… even better than that, he could go back far enough that he could stop Voldemort before his parents could be killed! Interact with Moody; Dumbledore would be worthless, attempting to convert Voldemort rather than killing him, and let Moody get rid of the Horcruxes. They could then swipe a machine gun and riddle Riddle when he walked in the door at Godric's Hollow. Maybe even sooner! Put down that mad dog before he could get out of control. The possibilities were endless!

"Luna," he asked. "Who was the wizard who wrote that document?"

"Let's see…. Oh, here it is. Uric of Gathsgaarten."

Harry's heart fell. "Well, it was a good thought while it lasted. Really Luna, Uric the Oddball? Named after a bodily waste fluid? The only wizard in history with a story so wacky that it kept the entire fifth year class of Professor Binns not only awake, but doubled over in laughter? _That Uric!?"_

Luna looked at him sharply. "Harry, you of all people should know better than to judge people by the labels that other people hang on them. Labels like mudblood, freak, worthless; how about labeling a child as 'Savior of the World'? Or maybe….. 'Loony' Lovegood? Do you still think of me that way?"

"Of course not! You are one of the smartest people I have ever known. But you have to admit that all of your talk about non-existent creatures could make a bad impression on people who don't know you as well as I do."

"That's just the point, how do you know they are non-existent? Because you have never seen them? _There are more things in Heaven and Earth than fit in your limited preconceptions! _You say that you don't consider me 'loony' because you know me. You don't know Uric either! He might have been like me, someone who can see past the perceptions of 'normal' people. I know that snorkacks exist because I have seen them in my inner sight. It might just be that Uric knew something that the rest of the world didn't. If he really did go back in time and interact his younger self, it could have been that he did know things that the rest of the world didn't. Remember that sketch that Binns showed the class from Uric's portfolio?" At Harry's nod, she continued. "It was a contraption that Uric claimed people could fly in without brooms or any other magic. Leonardo Da Vinci drew one remarkably similar three hundred years later and Muggle engineers claim that he designed the first helicopter! The base formula is here, if we follow it we could very well be wasting our time, but if Uric really did this and we can duplicate it, you could live up to your title of 'Savior of the Wizarding World'!"

"Whoa Luna! I had no idea that you felt so strongly about this. Okay, I will agree to go along with you on this, its not like we have any other options right now. So, what does this actually do?"

"If the formula is correct, it will open a portal to the time that you want. There is a lot of intent built into this…. Hmmm… Let's see, the traveler will maintain his powers, but will only be able to interact with one person, the one most likely to help him with his mission… so much of it depends on what you want to do. That is the part with the intent built in. The actual time travel base formula is a nightmare. Darn, I am pretty good at Arithmancy, but I am nowhere near this level…. Just trying to keep the equations straight could take me years of calculating. I'm sorry Harry, I may have just gone off on you without being able to prove my hypothesis."

"Hmm… is it just being able to store and process the equations that is the problem?"

"That and the converting of the formula to spell form, figuring out the incantation and wand movements. They are tied into the formula."

Harry smiled. "Luna, have you ever heard of a computer? Or a program called Excel?"

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

The next day, Harry and Luna went into Muggle London to one of the 'big box' stores, those monstrosities that have driven scores of smaller shopkeepers out of business. They bought a new Toshiba laptop preloaded with the new Microsoft Windows 98 operating system and Microsoft Office 97 with Excel, a spreadsheet program. Harry also purchased a couple of yellow and black books so that they could have a crash course on the programs. _"Thank Merlin for the 'For Dummies' series!" _he thought. A Hewlett Packard printer rounded out their purchases. The two took a taxi back to their flat with their new tool and spent the next few weeks learning how to operate it.

Luna had to create a whole new configuration for the spreadsheet program since they were not working in a Base 10 system, but rather a Base 13. This in and of itself took three weeks, but finally they thought that they had tweaked it to the point that they could feed in some Arithmantical formulas for familiar existing spells to check out their work. Luna fed in the formula for the levitation spell, and sure enough, the program converted the formula to the proper wand movements and incantation. It even provided the proper inflection for the incantation, reminding Harry of Hermione's attempts to correct Ron's pronunciation back in first year. Remembering that scene in Professor Flitwick's class made Harry a bit maudlin. _"If this is successful, we will never have that incident with the troll, I will finish off Quirrell as soon as I can get him alone. Then I'll kick Dumbledore's wrinkly old arse for ever bringing that Stone into the school for a Death Eater to grab!"_

They worked late into the nights, feeding formulas into the computer, checking and re-checking their work until they were positive that the time had come to begin work on the _Tempus Transfer_ formula that Luna had gleaned from Uric's notes. Harry bought a remote keyboard for the laptop so that he could keep up with Luna's reading of the formula. It was a hellishly long set of equations, and they had to fit together perfectly. Before beginning the transcription, they brewed several Pepper-Up Potions, then got a good night's sleep. As they lay in the double bed, one of the few pieces of furniture that had come in the 'furnished' flat, Harry rolled over and looked Luna in the eye.

"What are you going to do when I go back?" he asked.

"I'm going back also. A bit farther than you though."

"Oh?"

Yes, after your portal closes, I am going to refigure the formula to take me back to a few months prior to my mother's death. I spent a few years, along with Daddy, trying to figure out what went wrong with that experimental spell that killed her. Daddy was never the same after her death, and I suppose that I was not either. I withdrew into myself, relying more on my Inner Sight than I did the world around me. I know that I seemed pretty strange to the 'normal' people at Hogwarts, it was self preservation. Nobody messes with the 'crazy people'. Since you are going back to your first year, and I am going back to when I was four, I don't know if we will see each other. Uric was pretty vague about what would happen when the mission was complete. If I continue, maybe the two of us 'ghosts' will be able to interact."

"I will look forward to it." Harry reached over and tenderly kissed Luna, the first time he had ever done so. She returned the kiss with enthusiasm. Moments later, the last British witch and wizard began to make love, abandoning themselves to an urgency neither had ever before felt. Spent, they drifted off to sleep, holding each other as if they would never let go.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

The next morning, they had a good breakfast, then with a fresh strong pot of tea, began their work. Harry sat down at the laptop while Luna began rattling off the formula. The same formula would work for both of them with just a couple of minor changes relating to the time to which each wanted to go. As Harry filled in block after block on the spreadsheet with numbers and symbols, Luna told him when to skip cells so that they could place the interim calculations in. They worked steadily through the morning, then ate a light lunch and took the first of the Pepper-Up potions in order to remain alert. They kept feeding in blocks of numbers until Harry's fingers were numb from hitting the keys. When they had the last of the numbers and symbols in, Harry took another potion and began the calculations while Luna grabbed a short nap. He filled in the cells having to do with the time period with a yellow highlighting so that Luna would be able to adjust the formula after he left, then woke her up so that she could begin converting the calculations to wand movements and incantations. As she did that, he sank down into the bed and dropped off to sleep. It seemed that he had just closed his eyes when he felt Luna slide into bed next to him.

"Get it done?" he asked.

"Yes, but this will take a while to memorize. There are over seventy-five separate wand movements and the incantation will take almost an hour to complete. I printed off the whole mess and set it on the table. Tomorrow we will start having you practice the wand movements with a stick while saying the incantation. If we bring in some easels, we can blow the pages up to poster size to make it easier. Start at one side of the flat and work your way around. When you reach the last poster, you should stab your wand to the side and the portal should open."

"Sounds complicated. Do you really think that it will work?"

"We can only hope. After all, what else shows any promise?" With that, Luna gave him a small kiss on the forehead and rolled over to sleep.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

The next morning, the two had a light breakfast, then began their practice. With breaks during the day, and Luna critiquing Harry as he went along, by the time night fell, Harry was just beginning to feel comfortable. It took another two full days of practice, with Luna correcting his errors in movement and inflection, before Harry had the spell down pat.

"Talk about a tough taskmistress; are you sure that you aren't channeling Hermione?" he asked with a groan.

"I have to be tough; you have only one shot at this. Once that portal opens, there are no do overs. Now, take your potions and grab your real wand. It's showtime!"

Harry set down the imitation wand with which he had been practicing, picked up his real wand, then took one potion for his throat and a Pepper-Up potion. He grimaced and rinsed his mouth out with some water. He then stepped over to Luna, took her chin in his hand and gave her a long, tender kiss. "Just in case I don't see you after this. I'm ready."

"Alright. As you are doing the incantation, you need to be thinking about meeting the best person to complete your mission. So much of this spell contains intent, so don't think of a specific person, just the best one. It would do you no good to, say, think of Dumbledore; you might get back there and Dumbledore either refuse to acknowledge you or refuse to help. So stay focused, and good fortune. And if we don't meet again Harry, I want you to know I love you."

"And I also love you." He straightened his back, looked at the first poster, and began the incantation. Fifty-three minutes later, he reached the last syllable and stabbed his wand forward in a decisive movement. The air shimmered, and a dark silver oval appeared, growing larger until it was large enough to step through. Keeping his wand pointed forward, he stepped through the portal and disappeared. The portal disappeared as soon as Harry did.

Luna watched as Harry disappeared, then sadly said, "Goodbye, Love." She then walked over to the laptop with her notepad and sat down to adjust the temporal destination in the program. All it would take is changing two cells of numbers, then practicing the revised wand movements and incantation. Running her finger over the mouse spike, she scrolled down and found the highlighted cells. Looking back in her notepad, she mused, "That's funny, that decimal point should have been three places to the right, not six. She ran a quick calculation in her head, then paled.

"Oops."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Harry crashed down to the ground, then looked around to attempt to get his bearings. In the distance he saw a familiar set of hills. He was in Northern Scotland, no more than three miles from Hogwarts, but out in the middle of a field. He picked himself up and began walking toward Hogsmeade. As he walked, he noticed that the grass was not flattening beneath his feet. _"Well, that makes sense; if my footsteps could be seen, then others could see me. Maybe Uric wasn't such an oddball after all," _he thought. He took a few more steps then stopped, thumping his palm into his forehead. "I wonder," he mused. Reaching into the pocket of his robe, he took out his shrunken broom and enlarged it. Jumping aboard, he kicked off with a whoop, enjoying his first good flight in months. Nearing the edge of the village, he pulled back on the broom in shock, stopping in mid air. That was not Hogsmeade, at least not the Hogsmeade that he had come to know. There was not a main street with colourful shops, rather there were earthen huts with thatched roofs. The street was dusty, and there was a farmer urging a flock of sheep across the road on the outskirts of town.

Harry felt a pull in his chest and turned toward the Hogwarts castle. About halfway there, he felt a sudden pull toward the ground. On the dirt road into town rode a sandy haired man on a black steed. Harry followed the pull and landed directly in front of the man. The horse spooked, rearing suddenly and spilled the man off. As soon as the man was out of the saddle, the horse calmed and ignored Harry. The downed man did not ignore Harry, he reached in his sleeve and pulled a wand.

"Who art thou?" he hissed. Literally hissed. With a shock, Harry realized that the man had addressed him in Parseltongue. Harry moved slowly, not giving the man any reason to use the wand.

Bowing low, Harry said, "My name is Harry Potter. Do you mind pointing that thing somewhere else? I'm very sorry, it was an accident."

The man's eyes widened and Harry groaned. He realized that he had answered in the same language. The man eyed him carefully, then put his wand away and held out his hand.

"Thou speaketh the noble language, Master Potter? In that case, I greet thee as a brother. My name is Salazar Slytherin."

Harry had one overwhelming thought at hearing this.

"Oops."


	2. Harry and the Snake

_**A/N: You have spoken! I will be continuing the story, but it will not be updated that quickly. I have two other stories that are in the final stretch, "He Did it His Way" (I know, sucky title but I had been listening to old Sinatra songs), and the companion story, "The Mudblood Revolution". If you have not read them, I urge you to. (Shameless plug). **_

_Luna watched as Harry disappeared, then sadly said, "Goodbye, Love." She then walked over to the laptop with her notepad and sat down to adjust the temporal destination in the program. All it would take is changing two cells of numbers, then practicing the revised wand movements and incantation. Running her finger over the mouse spike, she scrolled down and found the highlighted cells. Looking back in her notepad, she mused, "That's funny, that decimal point should have been three places to the right, not six. She ran a quick calculation in her head, then paled._

"_Oops."_

**Chapter 2**

**Harry and the Snake**

_On the road to Hogsmeade_

_Circa: about 950 C.E._

"Oops" said Harry

"What be this strange expression?" asked Salazar.

"Oh, pardon," said Harry. "I was just realizing that I really screwed the pooch on this one. I only meant to go back a few years…" he broke off when he saw Slytherin's expression.

"I daresay that I have no idea to what you are referring, Master Harry, but I somehow get the impression that you think that you made some sort of error."

"Yeah, that would be a good assumption. Look, if you are going into Hogsmeade, let me buy you a drink and I'll explain it all. I must say though, you seem a lot different than what I have been led to believe."

"Ah, mine enemies have even infected younglings. Very well, Master Harry, I will have that drink, but I insist on buying. After all, thou art the foreigner and traveler."

"Why thank you, Salazar. But there is something that you should know before we go into town."

"And what might that be?"

"If I did any part of the spell correctly, no one other than yourself can see or hear me." At Salazar's unbelieving look, Harry pointed behind him in the dusty road, then walked in a small circle. "See, no footprints."

"A surprise, in fact," said Slytherin. "How dost thou expect to have that drink if thou art as insubstantial as a ghost?"

"I'm not really sure, I mean, I can feel a thirst, and the person who did this spell before never mentioned not being able to satisfy his thirst or hunger…. Interesting. I suppose I will just have to find out. I could get awfully hungry and thirsty in the next few years otherwise."

"Thou maketh a strong point. I will lead the way, and you may follow on your broom."

Salazar led Harry into town, stopping in front of a hut that looked no different from the other 35 or 40 huts. He dropped his reins onto the ground and motioned for Harry to follow him inside. The room was dark, with only tallow candles for light. There were no windows and only a dirt floor. Salazar stomped over to a table and sat down, motioning Harry to do the same. At first, Harry's hand went through the chair, but after he concentrated on making contact with the chair, was able to make the chair move out. He sat down just as the innkeeper came up to take Salazar's order.

"What will it be, Master Slytherin?"

"Two flagons of ale, Joseph."

"Are ye expecting company?"

"Already here. Joseph, meet my invisible friend, Master Harry Potter." The innkeeper got a strange look on his face.

"Uh, I don't see anyone, sir."

"Well, of course thou dost. I told you that he was invisible. Harry, help me with this. Pick something up." Harry just smiled.

The innkeeper turned away to get the order, muttering under his breath, "They're daft, they're all daft up there." He returned in a moment with two flagons. Salazar paid, then watched the innkeeper squeak with terror when Harry picked up his drink and took a swallow. All the innkeeper saw was the mug being lifted up in the air and the drink disappearing out of it.

"Th-that's a wonderful trick, sir. Will thou be teaching the children that one?"

"Just what did you see, Joseph?"

"I saw you levitate the flagon, tilt it and banish the contents. Nice bit of magic, no wand or incantation. Thou really hast talent, Master Slytherin." Salazar looked at Harry quizzically.

"Don't worry about it. Muggles aren't the only ones who deny their eyes. People will not believe anything that they can't experience. Just tell him thanks for the complement and send him away. Then we can talk."

Salazar looked at the innkeeper. "Ah, Joseph, thou hast caught me out. Yes, it is a new piece of magic, but I believeth that the students wouldst not be able to do it anytime soon. It dost maketh a good drinking story, though."

"Aye, that it dost."

The innkeeper went back to his duties and Harry leaned over toward Salazar. "Long story short, my world, about 900 or so years in the future, was devastated. I and a friend were the only British wizards left in the country. Everyone else either fled or died. The muggles knew about us and were working with other wizards from different countries to make sure that the madness we suffered from did not affect any other place. My friend found a spell which should have made me go back in time a few years so that I could repair the damage, guiding my younger self, but somehow I was thrown clear back here."

"Art thou sure that thou couldst repair the damage to thy world in that period of time?" At Harry's questioning look, Salazar continued. "I hast found Fate to be a contrary being. Many times, what thou thinketh is the correct answer, is not, and Fate will step in to correct thee."

"You know, that seems to make sense, somehow. Let's mull it over with another drink. I'll buy this round. Harry took a galleon out of his pocket and laid it on the table. Salazar's eyes widened.

"With this amount of gold, thou couldst buy this establishment. The coin is so finely fashioned." Salazar made the coin disappear and waved the innkeeper over. "Another two flagons. I have not tired of playing with my new trick."

"Certainly, sir. It is thy money." He brought the ales and watched in amazement as Harry picked his up and drank. "Amazing sir, I never saw thy lips move and thou hadst both hands in plain sight. Thou truly are one of the most talented wizards in this age."

When the innkeeper left, Salazar picked up his flagon and toasted Harry. "For that beautiful coin, I will owe thee several drinks. Now, tell me of your world, and how it came to be such a terrible place."

Harry began his tale. "It all started with your last heir….."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

Several hours later, Salazar rode up to the stables, roaring drunk, with Harry passed out and laying over the saddle in front of him. He had shrunk Harry's Firebolt and put it in the lad's pocket. Sliding off the horse, he handed the stableman the reins and muttered at him to take care of it. He then slid Harry off the saddle, put him over his shoulder, and staggered into the castle proper. The stableman watched him leave, staggering under an invisible load, then shook his head.

"They're daft, I tell ye, they're all daft."

As Salazar stumbled into the entryway, he bumped into Godric Gryffindor. "Ho, Goddy. I just found out that my heir is going to destroy the whole bloody country. Anything new here?"

"Ah Salazar, hast thou been sleeping with that gypsy fortuneteller again? Thou knowest that she gives thee all of those predictions of gloom because she gets mad when thou canst keep thy wand stiff. Thou shouldst lay off the drink when thou art feeling frisky. She might then tell thee what a great man thou art," Godric chuckled. "But tell me, old friend, why dost thou seem to be under a great load, as if thou art carrying a cask of wine?"

Salazar's eyes took on a crafty look. "I couldst tell thee a fable and make thee think my mind is melted by the drink, or I couldst tell thee the truth and prove it. Therefore I believe I will keep my own council and keep thee wondering. For now, I shalt return to my rooms and take that wonderful draught, sleep, so I may better curse the bright morn when it arrives. I bid thee good night, Godric."

"Always with the secrets, Slytherin. Aye, but please speak to Mistress Helga when you arise, she has become aware of a young girl in a village not far who should be brought here soon. The wench has begun to show signs of majick and needs shelter soon to protect her from the priest's wrath."

"Until morn, then." Salazar staggered off toward his rooms while Godric strode off in the opposite direction. Unknown to both, the caretaker, an old muggle who had insisted on accompanying his grand daughter to escape his village after he had been shunned for 'breeding hellspawn', peered out after the retreating back of Slytherin, then shook his head.

"They're daft, I tell ye, they're all daft here."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_London_

_Present day_

"Oops."

Luna stared at the screen in disbelief. The figures checked out, Harry had gone much further into the past than what he had planned, and already changes had been made. She could feel her reality begin to slip away, that extra sense of the world screaming to her that her original mission to save her mother was no longer viable, hell, her mother might not even be born in this new paradigm. She began to mutter to herself.

"Darn, I don't want to, but I'm going to have to follow him or he'll screw it up with the 'Harry Factor'. I mean, it will probably work out, but he'll lay waste to everything in his path doing it. I can't risk it, but at least I don't have to change the equation, just the focus…. Let's see, what do I want to take back with me?" She ran into the next room and grabbed a warm cloak, a bag of galleons from Harry's vault, her Cleansweep broom, and lastly a 9mm Beretta she had recovered from the old soldier's vault, along with as many boxes of ammunition as she could carry. In the event that Uric's notes were incorrect and others could see her, she would be instantly identifiable as a witch, something that was not really healthy in the era for which she was aiming. She would need every advantage she could get. After a moments thought, she put all of her supplies in her trunk, shrank it, and put it in her pocket. She was much better equipped than what Harry had been, but then again, she knew where she was going, Harry only _thought_ he knew.

Returning to the main room, she cleared her mind, not an easy thing for her, and began the incantation and wand movements which would take her back. Because of her second sight, different reality possibilities flashed across her mind and she felt her grip with this reality begin to slowly slip away. She focused on what she needed to do in her mission, and, in what seemed like an eternity, finally reached the last chart and stabbed her wand toward the empty spot. The portal began to spread, not quite as stable appearing as Harry's had been, but then again, she had not had the same amount of practice time as Harry. She muttered a quick plea to whatever deity might be listening, then stepped through the portal and disappeared. Had she of been able to look back, she would have noticed all of the wizarding relics left behind shimmer, then fade out of existence. The computer, printer, and charts were the next items to disappear. In less than five minutes, there was no trace that they had ever occupied the flat.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Circa: About 950 CE_

"Good morning, Salazar. Or should I say, good afternoon? Did Godric tell thee about the youngling to be brought to sanctuary?"

To look at Salazar, you would never know he had been completely blotto just a few hours earlier. As Harry watched the scene, he mentally tipped his hat to the Founder, comparing the man's potion abilities to his late professor. If he was here long enough, he planned on convincing Salazar to give him potions instruction. The Sobering potion and Pepper-up potions Salazar had given him not only worked faster than anything Snape had ever brewed, but it tasted good!

"Nay Helga. Didst the youngling's name appear in the book?" The Register Book was a recent bit of magic; it would record a child's name when they first showed magic, either accidental or purposeful. It was then up to Salazar or Godric to ride out and attempt to bring the child to Hogwarts for training before the local priest found out and had them burned for supposedly 'making a deal with the devil'. Godric and Salazar had often snorted with derision over that phrase. If five to eleven year olds were making deals with the devil, then the devil was a pretty sorry character for not at least leaving a demon to protect them against the mostly drink addled and lecherous 'servants of God'.

"Aye, she did. The lass is ten years old and probably terrified of being found out. She is in the village of Claigham, about a day's ride from here. I wouldst urge thee to ride quickly lest we lose her to the torturers and the fire. Godric is on his way to recover another child in the opposite direction."

"I shall leave at once, Lady Helga. Wouldst thou ask Rowena to take over my brewing? Tell her that the potion on the flame will be at step seventeen in two hours."

"I shall, Salazar. Godspeed and good fortune follow thee on thy ride." Salazar took this as a dismissal, thinking that more than speed and luck would be following him. He opened the door and hesitated, waiting for Harry to slip past him on the way out. They strode quickly to the stables, Salazar ordering the stableman to prepare two horses, then called for an elf to prepare rations for three people for two days.

"So Master Harry", Salazar asked when the stableman had gone to prepare the horses. "Art thou ready to ride?"

"Sure, but why don't you just apparate to the village, grab the kid and pop back here? Twenty miles should be no problem, and I could side-apparate there with you. I know my way back here, so that wouldn't be a problem."

Salazar looked at Harry like he had grown another head. "What is this 'apparation' of which thou speaketh?" he asked in confusion. "Is it some new manner of travel?"

Harry was stunned. The great Salazar Slytherin knew nothing about apparition? He then remembered that on his O.W.L. History of Magic there was a question about who discovered the wizarding method of apparition and what year. He had missed the question, probably because he had slept through that particular class. He tried to explain.

"You know how the elves can pop out of one place and appear in another?" Salazar nodded. "It's pretty much the same principle. You just bring up the image of where you want to be in your mind, then make a half turn, believing yourself to be there. Beginners find it easier to do with a wand, but with enough practice, most adult wizards and witches can do it. The biggest problem is accidental splinching."

"What be this splinching?"

"That would be accidentally leaving some of your body parts behing. It happens a lot to people who attempt to apparate when drunk."

Salazar shuddered. "Me thinkest that I shall not be attempting this anytime soon. Elf travel sounds dangerous."

"I'll tell you what. When we get some quiet time, I will teach you how to apparate. Think of the fun you could have pulling it over on Godric." Just then, the house elf appeared with the rations and they heard the stableman coming with the horses. Salazar took the reins of his stallion, then tied the other horses reins to his saddle. He mounted and rode out of the stable, Harry following on his Firebolt. When they were out of sight of the school, Salazar stopped, dismounted, and untied the stirrups from the second horse, letting them dangle. Harry took the reins from Salazar, put his foot in the stirrup, and promptly fell, the saddle slipping so that he found himself under the horse with his foot caught in the stirrup. Salazar roared with laughter at his plight.

"Master Harry, hast thou not been taught to check and tighten the belly cinch before thou mount the horse?"

"I've never ridden a horse in my life! A thestral, yes. A Hippogriff, yes. Never a horse that stayed on the ground. The closest I ever came to riding a real horse was when I was eleven, a centaur gave me a short ride." Salazar helped him up and showed him how to properly tighten the cinch and gave him a leg up onto the horse.

"Thou will have to tell me of these tales as we travel, Master Harry. For now, we needs to ride hard." Salazar gave his horse a small slap on the flank, urging him forward. Harry did the same with his mare, his hand sinking into the horse. He pulled his hand out, concentrated, then dug his heels into the beast's side. She started, almost throwing him off. Harry thought he would either ride his broom back or apparate.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Claigham, Scotland_

_Town Square_

The rotund priest, scriptures and holy water in hand, was observing the newest residents of the local gaol. It was a shame, really; the mother not even thirty years of age and still youthful appearing and her ten year old daughter, already having consigned their souls to hell by bargaining with demons to grant them these unnatural powers. Of course, they would get a final chance to renounce the devil, but they would still burn, once touched by that evil, there was no redemption. It was still a shame to waste a wench like that though, and after tomorrow, she wouldn't exactly be around to tell anyone He dismissed the jailer and spoke to the mother, the former Goodwife Pricilla MacTavish, nee McGonagall.

"Hast thou decided to perform an act of contrition and renounce the vile bargain thou hast made with Satan? It could allowest thee to enter death in a state of grace. Thou and thy daughter might go to Purgatory instead of Hell. Should thou agree to give this humble priest some earthly comfort, I would absolve thee of the sin and direct the sheriff to strangle thee before thou burnest."

"Thou vile creature! I hast told thee time and again that I never made any deal with the devil. The only devil I ever met is standing in front of me right now! How canst thou call thyself a man of God and still letch after one thou believeth to be possessed? Bringing an innocent child into this terrible lie makes thee beneath contempt!" She spat in his face.

"Stinking wench! For that insult, thou shalt watch thy demon spawn burn before thee! I hadst planned to grant her the boon of strangulation and to be burned with thee, instead thou shalt hear and see her pain cry out to Heaven! I shall cut the evil out of this town, beginning with thee. Blessed be the poor man you witched into marrying thee for denouncing thy unnatural ways and turning thee over to me with thy whelp! When thou enter into Hell, tell the devil that Father Dursley hast sent thee there, his gates shall not stand against the righteousness of the Most High God!" He sat and contemplated her for a moment. "Tomorrow on the morn, the torturer shalt break thee before the stake claims thee. Thou might as well get used to punishment, it is thy lot for eternity."

The priest stormed out and Pricilla sank to the ground, holding her daughter, Minerva. How had things gone so wrong? She had never made any deal with a demon, she also knew that she and her child were God fearing people. Yes, strange things sometimes _happened_ when she was in a stressful situation, and she had used different herbs and plants for healing; Heaven knew the villagers never minded when one of her cures worked! Had it not been for that thrice-damned statue, the secret would have remained safe. That hypocrite priest had talked her addled husband into buying a statue of the Holy Mother to make a shrine in the house, even though they could not afford it. She had objected, but he was adamant, and her daughter was enamored by the thing. It was ironic that the pretty statue the girl loved was to be the cause of both of their deaths.

While little Minerva was playing, she bumped against the shelf holding that wretched piece of plaster, causing it to fall. The girl threw out her hand as if to catch it, never mind that she was too far away, and it just _stopped_ falling! Her idiot husband, already upset that he had sired a willowy girl instead of the strapping son he really wanted, had paled and muttered the word "witchery", then began shouting that he was going to take their daughter to the priest and denounce her. Pricilla had latched onto his leg, begging him not to. When he broke free, she _wished_ the door locked and turned on him, eyes blazing, telling him he would not harm her child. Unfortunately, the commotion had roused the neighbors, and hearing his distress, they broke the door apart and the press of strong males dragged her to the floor and into unconsciousness. She had awakened here, sharing a cell with her daughter, both chained to the wall while that hideous creature calling himself a priest eyed her like a cat hungrily gazing at a plump mouse.

"Mama, I am sorry. I didst not mean to do anything bad. Why will they not let us go? I saved the Holy Mother, even though I do not know how." The tears were tracking down the young girl's dirty face."

"Hush child. We art innocent, and shall go into Heaven boldly. Hope here is lost, _Father_ Dursley shall be spilling innocent blood in his zeal, but the Holy Mother and the Savior shall comfort us after but a short bit of pain. We must leave the judgment to God, any powers we have were gifts from Him, and we shalt be welcomed as martyrs. I must ask the Holy Mother and the Father for forgiveness for lashing out at the misguided priest. Come child, we shall pray the night away and enter Heaven in a state of grace." Pricilla took out her rosary and began.

"_I believeth in God the Father, maker of Heaven and Earth…"_

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Luna appeared in a muddy village in what she believed, by the topography, to be in the Scottish Highlands. After she put on Harry's invisibility cloak in the event that she was, in fact able to be seen, this guess on her location was confirmed by the accent of a man in a priest robe and cowl, walking along and muttering to himself. She felt no urge to attempt to interact with him, rather she felt a revulsion, for reasons unknown. She did, however feel an urge toward the building he had just left. The closer she came, the more compelling the urge, almost as if she was being pulled there. She got to the door, listened and tried to open the door, but her hand went through it. Nonplussed, she shrugged, then went through the door, making no more impact than a ghost. Luna stepped into the room, then stepped out of the way and listened to the two men in the room.

"So lad, what be the two witches doing in their last hours?"

"They be praying, or at least pretending to. Maybe they think they can escape perdition, but God canna be mocked, as the good Father says."

"Aye, if they be praying, it be just empty words. Tell me, did they say the Lord's Prayer backwards? I heard tell that witches canna say it straight, the demon in them makes them say it wrong."

"I dinna hear them say the Lord's Prayer, just the Hail Mary."

"As if the Holy Mother would have anything to do with that lot!" the sheriff snorted. "We'll be shut of them in the morn, Father Dursley wants them broken when they go to the stake, show the people what we do with the devil's own here." The sheriff's assistant looked somewhat queasy at this last statement, they had never had witches in this village and he was not inured to torture yet. "Now lad, we need to keep a close eye on them, it would not do for them to use their witchery on us and escape."

The younger man got up to go into the cell area and Luna got the urge to follow. When he opened the door, she slipped past him, feeling the compulsion grow stronger. There were two people in the cell, a woman and a young girl, both praying softly. She walked through the bars and was drawn to the older of the two. She first reached out to touch the girl, to comfort her, but her hand went past the skin with no reaction. She then leaned over the older woman and whispered, "Don't be afraid, it will be alright, I promise."

The woman jerked up with a start. "Minerva," she whispered. "Did thee hear that?" At the girl's puzzled look, she drew her close. "The Holy Mother heard our prayer! She just told me, "Be not afraid". Rejoice child, for tomorrow we shall see God!"

Luna did not attempt to change the woman's misconception; she had to figure out how she was going to save these two, especially since it seemed that Uric was right and the only person she could affect was the older woman. With a sigh, she stepped through the wall and out into the street. She had work to do.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**


End file.
